A Cruel Trick
by StorybrookeGirl
Summary: Regina has gone undercover to discover what the Queens of Darkness are plotting but has she gained their trust completely? She wants to keep everyone safe but what happens when Robin goes back to Storybrooke? OutlawQueen one-shot based on the promo for episode 4x15.


**_A/N: Hello everyone! Okay, so this is most certainly not my best work (not even close) and I sincerely apologize for that. I've been very busy studying for some exams but I really wanted to write this one-shot, which is basically my take on what could happen in the next episode (4x15 "Poor Unfortunate Souls") based on what we saw in the promo._**

**_Well, enjoy and please drop a quick note to let me know what you think is actually going to happen in the episode :) _**

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time nor its characters._**

* * *

They spent most of the night in the cabin hidden in the woods. After turning Pinocchio into his older self, they spent hours torturing him, trying to get some information out of him, and Regina had to stand there and watch as Rumple beat him to a pulp, believing August was just being heroic, not wanting to reveal the author's identity nor his whereabouts. Ursula almost strangled him with her tentacles and still nothing, so Cruella pulled out her gun and pressed it against his forehead. When she did, they could see that he wasn't just being heroic as they thought. His appearance might've changed, but inside he was still that scared little boy and when he said he knew nothing about the author he was telling the truth.

So, Regina pulled Cruella away from him and tried to talk some sense into all four of them, and thankfully she convinced them that killing the man wouldn't do anyone any good. She suggested calling it a night and left, saying she had some ingredients in her vault that she could use to create a potion that might allow August to regain his memories, and Rumple and the other women apparently bought it.

So she spent the night in her vault, away from everything and everyone. She wanted to tell Emma about Rumple being back in Storybrooke and having his dagger but she couldn't meet her or anyone else right now. She knew the other women still didn't trust her completely and she didn't want to take any risks. If they found out she was betraying them by working with the heroes she would pay dearly for it, but she knew Rumple, Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula well enough to know they would take their revenge on her by hurting the ones she loved. Robin wasn't in Storybrooke, at least, but that left Henry, and she'd be damned if she ever did anything that would endanger his life.

She just wanted to be alone for a while, so she curled on her side on the bed in the corner of her vault and just lay there. She took page 23 out of her pocket and unfolded it carefully. She carried it around everywhere nowadays. It gave her strength and, most importantly, hope.

It would all be worth it in the end. She'd have her happy ending, if they managed to find the author, she could be reunited with her soulmate and finally live happily ever after.

She traced the man's face with her fingertips and a few tears ran down the side of her head and landed on the pillow as she wondered what he was doing in that very moment, if he was fine, if he had found a job and a place to stay and if he had found a way to be happy without her.

She hoped so. She missed him terribly but, if they were to never see each other again, then she wanted him to be happy.

* * *

She awoke hours later, the page still in her hands. She needed to go back to Rumple's cabin, so she collected her things, took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, then climbed the stone steps and stepped out of her family mausoleum.

She started walking out of the cemetery along a path that would take her to the cabin in less time. She was lost in her thoughts and kept her eyes mostly on the ground to see where she was placing her feet.

Then, suddenly, she heard the sound of a twig breaking not so far from where she was standing and her head snapped up. But nothing could've prepared her for what, or better _who_, she saw in front of her.

It was Robin.

He was right there, standing a couple dozen yards away from her.

For a moment she thought she had gone mad, that she was delusional. Maybe it was all a cruel trick of her mind or perhaps just a dream.

But then she heard her name on his lips and his left hers in a whisper. She took a tentative step forward, her heart racing, her eyes welling up with tears. She wanted to touch him but feared her fingers would simply pass through him and, if it was a dream, she didn't want to wake up.

She couldn't think straight. Robin was walking towards her, his blue eyes fixed on her, never once looking away, and her feet started moving on their own accord. One in front of the other, quicker, quicker, until she was running towards the man.

She crashed into him and buried her head in his chest, their arms wrapped around each other's body, holding each other as tight as possible. One of his hands ran up and down her back while he cradled her head with the other and placed soft kisses on top of it.

She had missed him so much, all of him, his touch, his warmth, the intoxicating scent that is uniquely him. She never wanted to let him go again, no matter what happened.

He cupped her face with his hands, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs, and lifted her chin a little so his blue eyes could meet her brown ones before her lips crashed against his. She could feel salty tears trickling down her cheeks and Robin had apparently noticed them, for he kissed them away.

She was crying but she also couldn't keep herself from smiling as she reluctantly untangled her arms from his waist, only to wrap them around his neck a second later.

He was real. She could touch him, hear him as he whispered her name under his breath right next to her ear, feel his warm breath on her neck.

"I love you…" She whispered, softly at first, then she pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. "I love you, Robin. I should've told you sooner, I––"

He silenced her with a brief, tender kiss after which they found themselves smiling at each other "I love you, too. More than you can possibly imagine."

That moment of happiness was short-lived, though, for Regina remembered where she was headed. She had to keep Robin safe. If the quartet of villains found out he was in town and they figured out what she was up to, he'd be the first one they'd take it out on, and she couldn't allow it.

"Robin, I need you to go to the Charmings' apartment, and make sure Henry is there with you as well. Tell Emma to cast a protection spell around the house, everything she needs is in my office. Go and find her, she's the only one who can protect you––"

"Regina, slow down! What is going on?"

She looked around nervously to make sure they were alone "There are new villains in town. Ursula, Cruella and Maleficent is back too. They're with Rumplestiltskin and they want to find the author. They want to get their happy endings too, but they plan to do so by destroying the heroes' ones. I've gone undercover to find out what they know so far, what they plan on doing next and, if I can, to stop them."

"What? That's madness! Regina, this is too dangerous, please––"

"Please, go! I swear, I'll be back as soon as this is over."

"Regina, I'm not leaving you, not again––"

"Robin, I––"

But upon seeing the alarmed look on Robin's face as he looked past her shoulder, she turned and saw Rumplestiltskin standing in front of them, watching them.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Rumple didn't say a word. He never broke eye contact with Regina as he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

Regina turned just in time to see Robin disappear in a cloud of purple smoke.

"No… Robin!" but he was gone and she couldn't hide the terrified look on her face before anger took over.

"What did you do to him?" she growled menacingly, boiling with rage, as she lunged at the imp, but Rumple blocked her and she was lifted from the ground, invisible magical constraints around her body made it impossible for her to move.

"He was never here. He's still in New York, with his family."

"Why would you do this?"

"I needed to make sure you had picked the right side, Regina. Alas, it appears you haven't…"

He slowly lowered her to the ground.

"But I knew you'd need a little… encouragement." His words made her skin crawl. "We _do _need your help, Regina, if we want to find the author. And I meant it when I said I wanted you to have your happy ending. I really hoped it didn't have to come to this but…"

"But what?"

"I know where Robin is. In New York, I mean… And I might have discovered another way in and out of Storybrooke that doesn't involve the Snow Queen's scroll."

"Don't you dare…" She whispered as realization hit her.

"If you work with us, _for real_ this time, then no harm will come to him, you have my word… But should you betray us and side with the heroes, I will have no problem going to New York and killing not just Robin but his family too."

"No, please don't —"

"Do we have a deal?"

* * *

**_A/N: Thank you so much for reading this (probably terrible) one-shot._**

**_Just a quick comment on this theory of mine: _**

**_let's be realistic, as much as we want that to be Robin, there's no way the one we saw in the promo is really him (also, they'd never show us their reunion in a promo or a sneak peek), so I started thinking about what could possibly happen and I think it's either this (a vision created by Rumple to test Regina), or Robin turns out to be Rumple (who has turned into Robin the way he turned into Killian in episode 4x14 – but Rumple kissing Regina? No, thank you.) or it could be a dream. _**

**_What do you think is gonna happen? :D_**


End file.
